Fun fact, the original 1950s manga Astroboy takes place in the year 2003, and that year was when the Urasawa’s manga of Pluto was published, then an anime happened and the rest is history.
Bit of a warning right now, this anime is not as much of an action packed spectacle as seen from the trailer. I can see this anime boring a lot of you, especially in this era of anime fans with short attention spans. This isn't an anime to watch for instant gratification. Just like Monster,It's very slow paced and the runtime is hefty too with eight episodes, each one about an hour long.And there is a lotta dialogue. This anime does ask for your time and patience, but if you commit to it, you are in store for some very top-tier and well-written sci fi crime drama. While the pacing is slow, it uses its time well and the main story is compact and delivered without confusion. Also, Urasawa has such a great way of characterizing people in Monster and you can see it here as well.
STORY
The last anime i remembered with this premise was Vivy:Flourite Eyes Song, while interesting, didn't really explore the facets of AI as much as I would hope. But Pluto goes as deep as it possibly can with it. And it started to have my attention when it brought up things i've never thought about when it comes to AI.Not only that, but the world building in Pluto is just beautifully written. It shows great use of visuals to show this futuristic society, and even Urasawa’s great writing shows little pieces of worldbuilding without dumping it all on you at once like other bad sci fi novels do.
One of the best examples of this is a scene where an AI person is talking to a human who is about to commit suicide, but then the AI tells the human not to do it because there is an electromagnetic net below. Its just the dialogue like this that i love. It both introduces new technologies in this world while also exploring to struggles of human emotions and the antithesis of that which is artificial intelligence. Getting back to the setting of Pluto, I think its one of the more creative ones I’ve seen in quite some time. AI has advanced to such a state that there are even services for them.There are adoption services,recreational sports, etc. And I appreciate how the anime addresses their assimilation into society. I was worried it would end up like Detroit Become Human. That story bothered me because it just transforms this scifi element into a heavy handed social commentary without exploring how AI has evolved enough to be aware of their own autonomy, also David Cage is the worst thing ever to happen to science fiction.Glad to say, Pluto does explore that. And you experience that evolution for yourself through all the characters, and there will be certain points where you question what really defines a human.I have one complaint with the story though, and its how it ends. It feels a little too abrupt especially after all of the events that took place before.And i guess this an anime moment, but some of the characters and their motives weren’t really explained. Like i don’t understand what that teddy bear was all about.Usually an anime ending will make or break an anime for me, but at the end of the day, it is an Urasawa story. And as he proved in Monster, its not the destination that matters, but the journey.
ANIMATION
What the fuck even is Studio M2, who are you and what have you done with Madhouse?Because holy shit, this studio did a fantastic job. For a netflix series thats over 3 hours long, I was expecting the animation to be rough, like the budget wouldnt cover my rent rough. But no. Its extremely consistent and solid throughout. Just like Monster the animation is not mindblowing all the time,but it is consistent, which is impressive on its own. And what is also impressive is how the styles are combined. It combines the distinct Urasawa style with the colorful and shiny world of Tezuka. Also the designs of the robots fit the world of Astroboy and guess what…. THEYRE ANIMATED IN 2D!!!! I was expecting this to be a CGI fest, but they were committed to it.There is cgi used for some of the special effects, but the effects looked really impressive. And the character designs are so similar to Monster, a bit too similar in some cases. There are points where I look at one character and I'm like “ ok that's Reichwein”, I look at another, and I'm like “Oh okay that's just a gender-bent, Nina”. They're both from the same creator so I should expect their designs to be similar, but it was so similar it started to become uncanny, But it's okay, I like Urasawa’s art style. At the end of the day, the anime looks impressive and we know what studio to consider whenever a 20th Century Boys adaptation ever becomes a thing.
MUSIC
While I don’t remember a specific track from Pluto, I think the soundtrack is solid in being a homage to the retro 1950s Astro Boy style while also having a 50s noir vibe . And also, bravo to the actors who worked on the dubbing, because my god it was pretty freaking solid. When there was a kid, it sounded like a kid, when there was a guy with a heavy Persian accent, it sounded as such, so great job there.
CHARACTERS
Something a bit interesting comes into play here, and its the emotional moments. In the anime Monster, all the characters were human. And Urasawa developed them so well that the sadder moments really hit more. But for some reason, I did not feel much for some of these characters. BUT, funny thing is, I think is was intentional,because the anime itself touches on AI bridging the gap between lack of emotion and human emotion. At first, I thought, yeah they're robots so of course they do not have emotions, but then the anime shows all of the different values and passions, and just like the AI in this anime, I started to build a sense of empathy for these characters. What really gets me are the ai struggling to deal with their human like emotions and how even the most evolved and artificial of minds can still be scarred through trauma and social pressure.Also, some discriminatory humans dont see ai as minorities but as just an object that doesn't deserve human rights . And the way it explores grief through these classic Astro Boy characters like Atom, Dr Tenma,Uran was very sincere and hit me like a truck.Bruh, Urasawa could make a spinoff of Tom and Jerry and find a way to make it depressing. Maybe im just capping, and it's just the emotional moments failing to connect with me at times, but either way, I love that aspect of Pluto.
ENJOYMENT
Now despite the greatness in store for this anime, I dont think this will be the type of anime that becomes a sensation overnight. Probably because of its very mature subject matter, its slow pace, and the fact it's a Nutflick anime won't do it any favors.
Yes, I enjoyed it a lot, but it hits differently than other anime, it doesn't give me much of that adrenaline rush that I get when I finish other good anime. It's a personal interest thing, it's more of an appreciation rather than obsessing about how good it is. I don't care about idol and celebrity culture, but I appreciate the relevant social commentary in Oshi No Ko. And here, while I have little interest in sci-fi, specifically with robots, I appreciate an anime like Pluto existing at this time right now where AI is relevant.
I can see Pluto aging well as a sleeper hit in the future especially when AI itself evolves. Also, this is an anime that is begging for a rewatch with fresh attentive eyes. And maybe in the dark and uncertain future where AI starts to take over our lives, this anime might hold a special place in my heart just like Monster does. Idk, talk to me about my opinion on this anime again 54 years from now.
